Water power heater or cooler for nursing bottles



July 21, 1959 J. B. PRATHER 2,895,718

WATER POWER HEATER OR COOLER FOR NURSING BOTTLES Ori inal Filed Oct. 19,1955 -.f6 g l# I/ @Q7-1 i 4 f Vf l if A -l E 1:, J6

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INVENTOR.

United States Patent C WATER POWER HEATER vR COOLER FOR NURSING BOTTLESJohn B. Prather, Yonkers, N.Y.

Continuation of abandoned application Serial lllo. v541,410, October 19,1955. This application January 2, -1958, Serial No. 706,817

12 Claims. (Cl. 257-74) This invention relates to apparatus for warmingor cooling bottles, and more especially nursing bottles, by transfer ofheat between the bottle and a surrounding stream of water.

It is an object ofthe invention to provide an improved apparatus forreceiving a bottle and for rotating the bottle while immersed in a bathof water. The relative movement of the water over the outside surface ofthe bottle -and the radial movement of the fluid in the bottle greatlyfacilitates the heat transfer by preventing the formation vof anystationary surface layers of liquid against the outside or inside of thebottle. The power for rotating the bottle is supplied yby a ow of waterinto a vessel in which the bottle is held.

This invention is an improvement on the apparatus described in my Patent#2,639,897. The structure of this invention is simpler and lessexpensive to make than that disclosed in my patent. This application isa continuation of my application, Serial No. 541,410, filed October 19,1955 and now abandoned.

It is an object of the invention to make a bottle-warming or coolingdevice, of the character indicated, with a minimum number of parts andwith the parts of such shapes and contours that they can be molded fromplastic material with simple molding apparatus. Another object is toprovide such a bottle warmer or cooler made of component parts which areconstructed and related so that they can Ibe assembled quickly and Iwitha minimum of labor in the manufacture of the product.

In the preferred construction of the invention, the vessel for holdingthe bottle and the water is made of only two parts secured together andenclosing a rotor which lis of one-piece construction. To furthersimplify the construction and reduce the manufacturing cost, the rotoris contained in the vessel without any fastening means. Gravity isrelied upon to hold the rotor in position when the vessel is in anupright position, and the interior of the vessel is made with a changeof diameter providing a shoulder above the rotor for preventing therotor from falling out when, and if, the vessel is turned upside down.

The apparatus will -be described as a bottle warmer, but it will beunderstood that it can be used for cooling.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear orbepointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like referencecharacters indicate corresponding parts in all the views:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional view through a bottle-warmingapparatus made in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view, on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;and

Figure 3 is a reduced-scale, plan view of the apparatus shown in Figure1.

The apparatus includes a vessel having a base 11 which extends outwardlyand then downwardly. The

Patented July 21, 1959 ice 2 l vessel 10, with its base 11, ispreferably a one-piece, plastic molding with its upper portionconstituting a side wall 12 of the vessel. At the upper end of the sidewall 12 there is an inwardly extending lip 1.4 for assisting in thecentering of bottles in the vessel 10, and it also strengthens tthemolding.

The vessel 10, referred to previously as preferably of one piece, has abottom element 16 with a circular'ridge 18 in contact with the undersurface of the molding which constitutes the side wall of the vessel 10.This ridge 18 has a cylindrical inner face of a diameter substantiallyequal -to that of the inside surface of the side wall 12- immedia-telyabove the ridge 18. The inside diameter of the side wall 12 decreases ata shoulder 21 located at a small distance above the bottom of the sidewall 12 for the purpose of limiting the upward movement of a rotor 25.

The peripheral edge of the bottom element 16 is shaped to lit into acounter bore 27 in the base 11, and the parts are preferably heldtogether by adhesive, or fusion bonding, at the locations where the topface of the ridge 18 contacts with the underside of the base 11, and atthe location where the peripheral portion of the bottom element 16 tsagainst the surface of the counter bore 27.

Where the -bottom element 16 .is spaced from the undersurface of thebase 11, a chamber 30 is formed. Water is supplied to this chamberthrough a fitting 32 extending upwardly from the base 11 around a port34. The fitting 32 is preferably molded as one piece with the base 11. Arubber hose 36, attached to the fitting 32, is connected Ito a warmwater faucet by a slip-on fitting such as commonly used for connectingsprayhead hoses to household faucets. Water ilows from the hose 36,through the fitting 32 and port 34, into the chamber 30.

There are depressions 40 (Figure l) in the top face of the ridge 18 foradmitting water from the chamber 30 into the vessel in which the bottleis to be warmed. More than two depressions 40 can be provided if morejets of liquid are desired. The depressions 40 extend obliquely throughthe ridge 18 and when assembled with lthe base 11, constitute nozzlesfor projecting streams of water tangentially against the rotor 25. Thereare blades 44 on the rotor 25 in position to be struck by the streams ofwater from the nozzles 4i). The construction thus provides animpulse-type, water-driven turbine by the flow of water from the chamber30 into the vessel 10.

The rotor 25 has a stud 46 extending downwardly into a bushing 48 whichis cylindrical and serves as a bearing for the rotor 25. The stud 46 ispreferably of onepiece construction with the upper part of the rotor 25,and the construction is preferably a plastic molding. It will beunderstood, however, that the parts of the apparatus can be made ofother materials, such as metal, if desired.

The bushing 48 is preferably made of metal, such as brass, so as toprevent the greater wear which would result if the stud 46 turned in aplastic bearing. The bushing 48 tits into an opening through a hub 50 atthe -center region of the bottom element 16. There is a flange 52extending outwardly from the upper end of the bushing 48. This flange 52spaces the bottom surface of the rotor 25 from the top surface of thebottom element 16 and serves as a thrust bearing for the rotor 25.

For running clearance, the radial length of the blades 44 is madeslightly less than the radius of the inside surfaces of the wall 12 andthe ridge 18 which are adjacent to the periphery of the rotor 25.However, the inside diameter of the wall 12, above the shoulder 21, isslightly less than that of the rotor 25 so as to prevent 3 the rotorfrom moving upwardly beyond the shoulder 21. The top surface of therotor 25, above the blades 44, has a diameter less than the insidediameter of the side wall 12 above the shoulder 21 so that if the rotorrises until the blades touch the shoulder, there is still space betweenthe top of the rotor and the inside surface of the wall 12 for theescape of liquid upwardly in the vessel. This prevents the building upof excessive pressure under the rotor. This provides an inexpensive andeffective construction for preventing the rotor 25 lfrom falling out ofthe bearing 48 when the apparatus is turned upside down.

'The apparatus is used for heating a nursing bottle 55, shown indot-and-dash lines in Figure 1. Nursing bottles are not all of identicalsize but the vessel is made large enough to receive any of the'nursingbottles ordinarily used, and the apparatus operates equally well withbottles of substantially smaller diameter than the vessel 10. The bottle56 is placed on the rotor 25. It is not necessary that the bottle becentered on the rotor, but the appearance of the apparatus whenoperating is Iimproved if the bottle is concentric with the rotor anddoes not have an eccentric wabble as it rotates.

The bottom of the rotor 25 near its peripheral edge slopes downwardlytoward the'axis of the rotor. Thus, the stream of water, impingingagainst the rotor, has a substantial component of upward thrust whichcompensates a part of the weight of the bottle and thus reduces thefriction of the rotor on the thrust bearing flange 52. If the waterstreams are very strong, the entire weight of the bottle 56 iscompensated by the upward thrust of the water, and the rotor 25 oats,but any substantial upward displacement is prevented by the shoulder 21.Ordinarily, the apparatus is constructed so that there is slight seepageof water into the running clearance of the stud 46 in the bushing 48 soas to provide water lubrication for the bearing. n

The water which flows into the vessel 10 passes upwardly around theperipheral edge -of the rotor 25 and through the clearance between thebottle 56 and the side wall 12. This water has a helical movement as ittravels upwardly in the vessel across the surface of the bottle. Theresulting turbulent ow facilitates transfer of heat from the water tothe bottle, as previously explained. The radial movement of the liquidin the bottle caused by the difference in density of hot and coolliquid, and. the effect of centrifugal force, aid heat transfersubstantially. It will be understood that the apparatus can also be usedfor cooling a bottle, if desired, by the use of cool water instead ofwarm in operating the apparatus. At the top of the vessel 10, the wateroverflows and streams down the outside of the vessel into the sink orbasin in which the apparatus stands while being used.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, but changes and modifications can be made without departingfrom the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Bottle-warming or cooling apparatus comprising a vessel for holding abottle or the like, a base at the lower end of the vessel, a rotor inthe lower part of the vessel, the rotor having blades and having a topsurface on which the bottle is supported, a bottom element which closesthe lower end of the vessel and extends under said base, the base andbottom element having confronting faces in contact with one another overa portion of their areas, at least one of the confronting faces having aportion spaced from but covered by the other face to provide a waterchamber, a channel formed in at least one of the confronting faces andcovered by the other face to provide a passage, the passage being inposition to discharge water from the water chamber into the lower partof the vessel in a generally tangentialV direction with respect to therotor and into impingement with the blades of the rotor to rotate therotor and the bottle supported thereby,

and means securing the base to the vessel with said confronting faces incontact over the substantial areas of their extent.

2. The bottle-warmer or cooling apparatus described in claim 1 and inwhich the water chamber is of substantial angular extent around thecircumference of the vessel and the channel is one of a plurality ofchannels at angularlyspaced locations in position to direct a pluralityof streams against the blades of the rotor to distribute the water moreuniformly around the vessel.

3. The bottle-warming or cooling apparatus described in claim 1 and inwhich the bottom element fits into the lower end of the base and theconfronting faces include annular areas around the periphery of the basein contact with one another and bonded together, and the bottom elementhas an annular ridge on its face that confronts the base and thatcontactswith and is bonded to the confronting face of the base, and thechannel is formed in the top surface of the annular ridge.

4. Bottlewarming or cooling apparatus comprising a vessel for holding abottle or the like, a rotor in the lower part of the vessel in positionto support the bottle in the vessel, the vessel having means defining apassage through which liquid is discharged against the rotor in agenerally tangential direction, the vessel having a bottom openinglarger than the rotor and through which the rotor is inserted into saidvessel, a bottom element closing the bottom opening of the vessel andsecured to said vessel to form a composite structure, the rotor beingrotatably supported by the bottom element and being movable up and downwith respect to the vessel and the bottom element, the diameter of theinside peripheral extent of the vessel immediately above the rotor beingsmaller than the diameter of the rotor whereby upward movement of therotor is limited and the rotor is prevented from falling out of theapparatus when the vessel is turned upside down.

5. The bottle-warming or cooling apparatus described in claim 4 and inwhich the inside diameter of the vessel is slightly larger than thediameter of the rotor for a portion of the height of the vessel at thelower end thereof to provide a running clearance for the rotor in thevessel above the bottom element.

6. The bottle-warming or cooling apparatus described in claim 4 and inwhich there is a cylindrical recess in the base and in which the lowerportion of the rotor is located, and the rotor has a stud extendingdownwardly therefrom into a cylindrical bearing at the center of therecess.

7. Bottle-warming or cooling apparatus comprising a cylindrical vesselhaving a side wall for receiving at least the lower part of a bottle, abase on which the vessel rests on a support, an end wall forming thebottom of the vessel, a rotor in the lower end of the vessel with a topsurface on which the bottom of the bottle rests, the rotor having adiameter only slightly less than the diameter of the wall of the vesselnearest to the periphery of the rotor for restricting flow of water fromunder the rotor upward to increase the difference in water pressurebelow and above the rotor and counter-balance a substantial part of theweight of the bottle, the rotor having blades projecting downwardly fromthe peripheral portion of the bottom surface of the rotor, and at leastone water inlet located near the periphery of the rotor and extending ina generally tangential direction with respect to the rotor to directajet of water against the blades for driving said rotor, theend wall, theunder side of the rotor and the side walls of the vessel below the rotorenclosing,

` a pressure chamber from Iwhich the water exhausts upin claim 7, and inwhich the vessel includes an upper part having its top portion generallycylindrical and its bottom portion of greater cross section than the topportion and extending downwardly around its periphery to form a recessedlower end, and a lower .part that fits into the recessed lower end ofsaid upper part, the lower part having a peripheral section in contactwith and in sealed relation to the bottom portion of the upper part, andhaving an annular section radially inward from the peripheral sectionand spaced from the recessed lower end of said upper part to form awater supply chamber, and having an annular ridge in sealed relation tosaid recessed lower end in position to form an inner wall of the watersupply chamber and having a middle section that is the end wall formingthe bottom of the vessel.

11. The bottle-warming or cooling apparatus described in claim 10, andin which the annular ridge has a top face, and the water inlet fordirecting a jet of water against the blades is a depression in the topface of the ridge.

12. Tlhe bottle-warming or cooling apparatus described 'in claim 7, andin which at least -a portionl of the side walls of the vessel extendsinwardly above the rotor and provides an abutment for preventing therotor from falling out of the vessel when the vessel is turned upsidedown.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSTownshend Feb. 21, 1956

